Electric-railway system.



No. 659,!78. Patented Oct. 2,1900. E. c. MORGAN.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

(Application filed Jan. 2, 1900. Renewed Sept. 10, 1900.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets8heei I.

No. 659,|78. Patented Oct. 2, I900.

E. C. MORGAN.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

(Application filed Jan. 2; 19.00. Renewed Sept. 10Y 1900') (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

Q N v R3 Q s 33 m QT N x 4 g mm $1M lllllllllllllllllllll"HIM g HEH IHI H Y fli ipllllflmllll 2 1' k m i A R a! iii} 2| m" I 5' m n IHHH u $5M w Q IHE'IHFHHI I 1", v I .m\\\

: I I I i w 5 1 .1; @nnmfl glmng P WI N E i i I may -4 I mi ail'fih E ifg 'ill-lllllllllllllilllllillllllllw I g A v & Q N Z/ifiiefi'flefi; 9% Q yam @M 5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND C. MORG N, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIs, ASSIGNOR TO THE MORGAN ELECTRIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF sAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 659,178, dated October 2, 1960.

Application filed January 2, 1900. Renewed September 10, 1900. Serial No. 29,474. (No model.)

To Ml whom it may concern: to the blocks B are two stringers C D,arranged Be it known that I, EDMUND O. MORGAN, a to extend longitudinally with respect to the citizen of the United States, residing at Chi-y track-rails E and spaced a suitable distance cago, in the county of Cook and State of Illiapart to accommodate therebetween the third 55 nois, have inveutedanew and usefulElectricand traction rail. Preferably and as shown r Railway System, of which the following is a the stringersODare correspondinglygrooved specification. or recessed longitudinally upon the juxta= This invention relates'to electric=railway posited faces or surfaces thereof and at a systems. suitable point intermediate their edges, as 66 IO One object of the invention is to provide an most clearly shown in Fig. 6. Arranged in electric-railway system wherein the truck is the groove or recess in the face or side of each supported upon truck-wheels, wherein prostringer C D is a plate F G. These plates are pulsion is effected through a gear and rack, connected together at suitable intervals by the gear being driven froma motor supported means of bolts H, said bolts alternately pass- 65 by the truck. ing through said plates in opposite directions Other objects of the invention will appear and securedin the stringersO D, respectively, more fully hereinafter. as clearly shown. Intermediate the plates F The invention consists substantially in the G each bolt carries or has otherwise secured construction, combination, location, and arthereon asleeve J. The suitably-spaced bolts 70 2o rangement of parts, all as will be more fully -H and the side plates or bars F G, which they hereinafter set forth, as shown in the accomconnect, constitute an open rack. The said panying drawings, and finally pointed out in bolts or sleeves J, carried or formed thereon, the appended claims. constitute the teeth of such rack and adapted Referring to the accompanying drawings, to be engaged by the teeth of a suitable pro 75 and to the various views and reference-signs pelling gear or sprocket carried by the truck appearing thereon, Figure 1' is a view in side whereby said truck is propelled along the elevation of a railway-truck, showing the aptrack. By this construction of the tractionplioation thereto of a construction embodying rack and the manner of supporting the same the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 is a it will be seen that such rack is efficientlyin- 80 o transverse central section of the same on the sulated and may therefore form a conductor line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detached detailed by which current is supplied to the motor on broken view showing means for centering the the-truck which operates the propelling gear propelling sprocket or gear. Fig. 4 is a broken or sprocket, thus avoiding the use of an indeview in plan showing a track system, aswitch, pendent trolley wire or conductor for supply- 85 3 5 and the application thereto of a third or tracing such current. It will also be seen by the tion rail embodying the principles of my inarrangement above described that such comvention. Fig. 5 is a broken detail view in plan bined third or traction rail is located between of a form of combined third and traction rail the edges of the stringers C D, and hence out constructed in accordance with the principles of danger of accidental Contact therewith,thus o of my invention. Fig. 6 is a transverse secaffording protection to pedestrians or others. tion of the same on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5. If desired and in order to form a traction-rack The same part is designated by the same of sufficient length, such rack may be made in reference-sign wherever it occurs throughout sections, the sections bolted together at the the several views. ends, as indicated at K, Fig. 5. By arrang- 5 I will first describe the construction and aring the side bars F G of the combined third rangement of the combined third and tracand.traction rail within grooves or recesses. tion rail employed in connection with myinformed in the stringers O D such rail is effivention. Suitably mounted and secured upon ciently held supported and braced to resist the ties A of the railway-track bed are blocks the strains exerted thereon by the propelling 10c B, of insulating material-say, for instance, power.

of wood. Suitably mounted upon and secured A combined third and traction rail constructed in accordance with the principles above set forth may be arranged in any suitable or convenient relation with respect to the traction-rails. In practice, however, I prefer to arrange such third or traction rail between the track-rails E, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and preferably in closer relation to one rail than to the other, as clearly shown, thus affording an ample space for foot-passage, when necessary ordesired, between the trackrails.

I will now describe the construction and arrangement of the truck and the propelling devices mounted or carried thereon. Reference-sign L designates a motor, which may be of any suitable or convenient type, construction, and arrangement, the shaft of which is suitablyjournaled in the truck-frame M. In practice I prefer to employ an electric motor, and I have found a shunt-Wound constantspeed electric motor efficient for the purpose. Suitably journaled in the truck-frame is a shaft N, adapted to be driven from the motor in any suitable manner. I have shown a suitable arrangement of gearing for driving shaft N from the motor at different speeds and comprising gears O P of different sizes, which gears are loosely sleeved upon said shaft N. The gearsOandPare constantlydriven from the motor-shaft by the engagement therewith of corresponding driving-gears Q R, also differing in size to correspond to the difference in relative size of gears O and P. Suitably connected to rotate with shaft N are frictiongears R S, arranged to be alternately engaged with gears O P, respectively. Thus when friction-gear R is engaged with gear 0 the shaft N is driven at one speed and the friction-gear S is disengaged from gear P, and when said friction-gear S is shifted to engage gear P the shaft N is driven in the same direction as before, but at a different speed, depending upon the difference in relative sizes of gears O P and their driving-gears Q R, the movement of friction-gear S to engage gear P effecting a disengagement of the friction-gear R with gear 0. The shifting of friction-gears R S may be effected in any suitable or convenient manneras, for instance, by means of a hand-lever T, suitably connected by connecting-links or otherwise with the hubs of said friction-gears.

Suitably bolted or otherwise mounted on or secured to the sills of the truck-frame are castings or brackets 8 9, in which are suitably held shafts 10 11 12. Loosely sleeved upon shaft 10 is a gear-wheel 13, arranged to be driven from shaft N through the engagement therewith of a gear 14, mounted on said shaft N, and said gear 13 inter-meshes with and drives gears 15 and 16, (see Fig. 1,) respectively mounted on shafts 11 12. Suitably connected to revolve with the gears 11 12 is a sprocket or propelling gear 17 18, said sprocket or propelling gears being arranged to operate in substantially the same vertical plane and to engage or interinesh with the teeth of the combined third or traction rail. In practice I prefer to hold the shafts 10, 11, and 12 stationary and to arrange the gears 13, 15, and 16 to revolve freely on said shafts respectively. By this construction I avoid the necessity of cutting feathers or grooves in said shafts or the hubs of said gears and at the same time produce an easy and smooth running gearing.

The truck-wheels 2O 21 are arranged in pairs at each end of the truck-frame, said truckwheels being supported upon pins or studs 22, suitably bolted or otherwise secured to the truck-frame. Thus the truck-wheels operate merely as supporting-wheels for the truck, the propulsion being effected through the engagement of the propelling or sprocket gears 17 18 with the traction-rail, as above described. In practice I prefer to arrange a propelling or sprocket gear 17 18 adjacent to each pair of truck-wheels 20 21 for a purpose presently to be described. By loosely sleeving the gears 15 16 and their connecting propelling or sprocket gears 17 18 upon their respective supportingshafts 11 12 said gears and their connected propelling-sprockets are permitted a desirable range of lateral movement transversely with respect to the truckframe. This is a desirable feature, for the reason that the propelling or sprocket gears enter the space between the stringers O D of the traction-rail in order to effect engagement with such traction-rail, and hence any lateral motion or vibration of the truck or lateral movement thereof in turning curves or the like will be permitted by the lateral movement of the propelling or traction gears or sprockets without danger of unduly straining such gears or sprockets or causing the traction-rail stringers to work loose or to be deranged from the proper alinement thereof. If desired and inorder to yieldingly hold the sprocket-gears in centered relation with respect to the traction-rail, each of said sprockets may be engaged by a spring 23, Fig. 3.

Where the motor employed is an electric motor, the traction-rail serves also as a conductor for supplying current thereto. Such current is supplied through the contact of the propelling sprocket-gears with said traction-rail, and in this event to prevent shortcircuiting the gear 13 should be insulated from its driving-gear 14. A convenient arrangement is shown wherein the driving-pinion 14 is insulated from shaft N, the current being conveyed from the propelling-sprockets to the motor in any suitable manner, as by wire 24., the return circuit being completed, as indicated, through wire 25 (see Fig. 1) to one or more of the truck-supporting wheels 20 21, said wheels being suitably insulated from the truck-frame.

In Fig. 4 I have shown an arrangement of tracks and a switch or crossing adapted for use in connection with my invention. In such arrangement the traction-rail must he made in disconnected sections in order to accommodate in the usual manner the track rails, and by the arrangement of the propelling sprockets, as above described, at each end of the truck-frame and the gaps between adjacent sections of the tractionrail bearing a definite proportion to the diameter and speed of rotation of the propelling-gears it will be seen that the gaps in the traction-rail may be readily and easily 3' umped over or passed, the one propelling-gear at the front end of the truck, for instance, engaging the advance section of the traction-rail before the other propelling-gear at the rear end of the truck leaves the rear section of the traction-rail. In this manner and by operating the propelling-gears synchronously an engagement between one or the other of the propelling-sprockets and one or another of the sections of the traction-rail is constantly maintained.

Having now set forth the object and nature of my invention, what I claim as new and useful and of my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s

1. In an electric-railway system,track-rails, a truck, supporting-wheels therefor arranged to operate on said rails, a traction-rack arranged parallel with said track-rails, supporting-stringers for said rack, said rack arranged between said stringers and intermediate the edges thereof, a propellinggear mounted on said truck, and arranged to enter the space between said stringers to engage said rack and the motor carried by said truck for operating said propelling-gear, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an electric-railway system,track-rails,

a truck, supporting-wheels therefor arranged to operate on said track-rails, a traction-rack arranged parallel with respect to said trackrails, supporting-stringers for said rack, said rack arranged between said stringers and intermediate the edges thereof, a propellinggear mounted on said truck for lateral movement with respect thereto and arranged to enter the space between said stringers to engage said rack, and a motor carried by said truck for operating said gear, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an electric-railway system,track-rails, a truck, supporting-wheels therefor arranged to operate on said track-rails, a traction-rack, a propelling-gear mounted on said truck for lateral movement with respect to said truck and arranged to engage said rack and a motor carried by said truck, and arranged to operate said gear, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In an electric-railway system,track-rails, a truck, supporting-wheels therefor arranged to operate on said track, a traction-rack arranged parallel with respect to said rails, a propelling-gear carried by said truck and arranged to engage said rack,said gear mounted for lateral movement with respect to said gear in centered relation with respect to said rack in combination with a motor carried by said truck for operating said gear, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In an electric-railway system, track-rails, a truck, supporting-wheels therefor operating on said rails, a traction-rack arranged in parallel relation to said rails, supporting-stringers for said rack, said rack arranged between said stringers and intermediate the edges thereof, a propelling-gear mounted on said truck and arranged to enter the space between said stringers to engage saidrack, said gear mounted for lateral movement with respect to said truck, means for yieldingly holding said gear in centered relation with respect to said rack in combination with a motor carried by said truck for operating said gear, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In an electric-railway system, track-rails, a truck supported thereon, a traction-rack, a propelling-gear carried by said truck and arranged to engage said rack, springs arranged to engage said gear to yieldingly hold the same in centered relation with respect to said rack, and a motor carried by said truck for operating said gear, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In an electric-railway system, a truck, track-rails upon which said truck is supported, a traction-rack, a fixed shaft mounted on said truck, a propelling-gear loosely sleeved upon said shaft, a motor carried by said truck and gearing intermediate said motor and propelling-gear for actuating the latter, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In an electric-railway system, a truck, track-rails, upon which said truck is supported, brackets or castings mounted on said truck, a shaft stationarily supported by said brackets or castings, a propelling-gear loosely sleeved upon said shaft, an intermediate shaft also mounted in said brackets or castings, a driving-gear mounted thereon, and arranged to engage and drive said propellinggear, a motor carried by the truck and arranged to drive said driving-gear in combination with a traction-rack arranged to be engaged by said propelling-gear, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In an electric-railway system, a truck, track-rails upon which said truck is sup ported, and a traction-rack in combination with a propelling-gear carried by said truck and arranged to engage said rack, a drivesha-ft for said propelling-gear, drive-gears of difierent sizes loosely mounted on said driveshaft, a motor having gears of corresponding difference in size arranged to engage and actuate said drive-gears, a friction-gearing arranged to be alternately shifted to engage and disengage said driving-gears from said drive-shaft, as and for the purpose set forth.

10. In an electric-railway system, a truck, track-rails upon which said truck is supported and a traction-rack in combination with propelling-gears mounted on said truck at the respective ends thereof and arranged to engage said rack, in combination with a motor carried by said truck, and gearing actuated by said motor for synchronously operating said propellingears, as and for the purpose set forth.

11. In an electric-railway system, a truck, track-rails upon which said truck is supported, and a traction-rack in combination with a fixed shaft mounted at each end of said truck, a propelling-gear loosely sleeved upon each fixed shaft, a motor carried by said truck and gearing intermediate said motor and propellingears for actuating the latter, as and for the purpose set forth.

12. In an electric-railway system, a com- EDMUND O. MORGAN.

Witnesses:

D. B. DOUGLASS, S. E. DARBY. 

